Upright vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns an upright vacuum cleaner comprising a cleaning head portion supporting an upright portion which includes a collector for vacuumed detritus, the cleaning head portion being provided with wheel means which allow the cleaner to be moved and directed over a floor surface by a user holding a handle provided at an upper region of the upright portion, wherein a lower region of the upright portion is structurally attached to the cleaning head by a tubular conduit in which air-entrained detritus can be conveyed from the cleaning head to the collector, and wherein the tubular conduit is provided with a swivelling connection in which a first tubular member associated with the upright portion engages with a second tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion, so that a male end of one of the tubular portions is seated co-axially in a female end of the other, and wherein the tubular portions are retained in engagement by an elongate flexible locking member which is accommodated in an annular circumferential channel formed between the seated male and female portions, the channel being defined at least in part by raised or depressed constraint features.

The present invention relates to the field of vacuum cleaners for cleaning carpets and other floor surfaces. The invention particularly relates to upright cleaners which have a cleaning head portion and an upstanding handle portion which typically carries a collection device, such as a filter bag, for collecting detritus lifted by a vacuum induced airflow.

The handle portion typically has a lower region pivotally connected to the cleaning head portion so as to permit push-pulling of the cleaning head portion over a floor surface by user-manipulation of a grip provided at an upper region of the handle portion. The cleaning head typically has a roller brush having a transverse axis of rotation, which may be disposed over a floor-facing aperture in the front underside region of the cleaning head. In use the brush acts to lift dirt and dust and other detritus so that it becomes entrained in a vacuum-induced airflow drawn through the aperture and up to the collection device in the handle.

Such cleaners may be distinguished from wand and bin type cleaners in which a tubular wand is used to lift and convey detritus from a floor surface remote from the collection device. The wand is connected by a flexible tube to a wheeled bin or drum portion which contains a collection bag or receptacle. The wand (or hose) may be used to tow the bin/drum over a floor surface. The bin/drum is typically supported on castors/and or rollers. These cleaners are particularly useful for cleaning surfaces above the floor level, such as curtains, stairs or furniture upholstery, because the wand may be easily directed above the floor.

GB-A-1 022 662 discloses a vacuum cleaner in which a connection between a vacuum hose collar portion and a tubular receiving member on a cleaner body portion is made via a male/female engagement in which the hose portion is retained by means of an elongate flexible locking member accommodated in a circumferential annular cavity defined between an inner surface of the receiving member and an outer surface of the hose collar.

EP-A-1,647,219 discloses a swivelling connection between male and female portions of vacuum tubes in an upright vacuum cleaner. A circumferential channel is formed in the overlapped region of the tubular members. An aperture into the channel permits individual rigid ring segments to be inserted in turn into the channel. In a preferred embodiment there are six segments uniformly spaced around the circumferential channel. The segments provide constraint against detachment of one tubular member from the other, whilst permitting one tube to swivel with respect to the other around the longitudinal tubular axis. The aperture is closed by a tab to prevent the segments working their way out of the channel.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved upright-type vacuum cleaner which allows steering of the cleaning head and in which the cleaning head may be readily detached from the upright portion.

According one aspect of the present invention there is provided an upright vacuum cleaner comprising a cleaning head portion supporting an upright portion which includes a collector for vacuumed detritus, the cleaning head portion being provided with wheel means which allow the cleaner to be moved and directed over a floor surface by a user holding a handle provided at an upper region of the upright portion, wherein a lower region of the upright portion is structurally attached to the cleaning head by a tubular conduit in which air-entrained detritus can be conveyed from the cleaning head to the collector, and wherein the tubular conduit is provided with a swivel connection in which a first tubular member associated with the upright portion engages with a second tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion, so that a male end of one of the tubular members is seated co-axially in a female end of the other, and wherein the tubular members are retained in engagement by an elongate flexible locking member which is accommodated in an annular circumferential channel formed between the seated male and female members, the channel being defined at least in part by raised or depressed constraint features.

The arrangement may be such that with the locking member in place, swivelling of one tubular member with respect to the other is possible but axial disengagement of the male and female portions is prevented by the abutment of one or more constraint features against the locking member. With the locking member withdrawn from the channel the constraint features are not obstructed so that the male and female members may be detached from each other by travel apart in the axial direction, thereby to permit detachment of the cleaning head from the upright portion.

Thus the cleaning head may be steered by the user swivelling the upright portion relative to the cleaning head. Furthermore, the upright portion may be detached from the cleaning head by removal of the elongate locking member. This facilitates the cleaning of the machine interior, especially clearing blockages of the conduit caused by accumulated detritus. Re-attachment is simply a matter of re-engaging the mating male and female tubular members and inserting the locking member.

Typically, and especially for domestic carpet cleaning, a brush roller may be provided in the cleaning ahead, which brush has a transverse axis of rotation and is disposed above an elongate transverse sweeping aperture formed in a front underside region of the work head.

The annular circumferential channel for the locking member may be oblong in cross-section. The long side of the oblong is preferably parallel to the axial direction, and the width is parallel to the radial direction. This provides enhanced axial constraint.

More generally the cross-section of the locking member typically corresponds to the cross-section of the annular circumferential channel.

The elongate locking member should be a sliding fit in the annular circumferential channel.

An outer wall of the female tubular portion may be formed with an aperture communicating with the annular channel through which aperture the locking member may be slideably threaded into the channel.

A tail end of the locking member is preferably provided with a release tab or graspable feature which remains outside the annular channel when the locking member is accommodated inside. The tab facilitates manual withdrawal of the locking member for detachment of the members.

In one embodiment the constraint feature for the locking member comprises an annular circumferential lip provided in the male and/or female portion. The constraint may in particular comprise an annular circumferential depression or trough provided in the male and/or female tubular member(s).

In another aspect of the invention, the lower region of the tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion is provided with at least one transverse cylindrical axle feature which is seated in a corresponding bearing provided in the cleaning head portion and which permits the tubular member (and therefore the whole upright portion of the cleaner) to pivot fore and aft.

In this way the attached upright portion of the vacuum cleaner may be reclined from a vertical storage orientation to an inclined work orientation. Preferably there are two diametrically opposed axle features, and corresponding bearing seats formed in the cleaning head.

At least one of the cylindrical axles may be formed with an axial bore which provides a transverse fluid flow path for detritus-laden air into an interior of the tubular member and then upwards into the upright portion.

The material from which the locking member is formed should be sufficiently resilient to permit the member to be accommodated in the circular channel. It should however maintain sufficient rigidity to prevent the member failing under constraint loading causing unplanned detachment of the connected members. Suitable materials include polyethylene, polyamide (e.g. nylon), PTFE, and other engineering plastics materials.

Following is a description by way of example only and with reference to the drawings of one way of putting the present invention into effect.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective three quarter view of a vacuum cleaner in which a connection according to the present invention is utilised.

FIG. 2 is the same vacuum cleaner viewed from one side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tubular swivelling connection in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-section through the connection, showing detail of the internal arrangement.

In FIG. 1 a vacuum cleaner is shown generally as 10. The cleaner has an upright portion 11 and a floor cleaning head portion 12. The floor cleaning portion includes a roller carpet brush (not visible) accommodated in a front semi-cylindrical portion 9. The floor cleaning portion is provided with two rear wheels 8 (only one visible), and a castor wheel (not shown) which is disposed depending from a central recess in an underside of the cleaning head. The upright portion houses a dirt collection bag and a vacuum generating motor (not visible). An upper region of the upright portion is provided with a handle loop 7 for use by an operator in steering and push-pulling the cleaner. An ancillary cleaning wand is accommodated on a rear side region of the upright. The wand is provided with an upwardly projecting handle portion 6 and an ancillary vacuum hose 5. The wand may be detached from its mount for ancillary cleaning tasks.

A structural connection 30 between the floor cleaning portion head and the upright portion is made between mating lower 31 and upper 32 tubular vacuum conduit members as shown in FIG. 2. The tubular members are shown detached in FIGS. 1 and 2. The members are shown isolated and engaged in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3 the lower tubular member 31 has an inverted T form, and is formed from a single piece of moulded engineering plastics material. A lower transverse tubular bore portion 34 of the member has open opposite end regions 35,36. Each end region is provided with an annular flange 37. The portions of the transverse bore outboard of the flanges provide axle surfaces 38,39 for pivoting of the lower bore portion about the longitudinal axis of the bore (which is parallel to a notional transverse diametric chord of the upper end region 16 of the member).

The axles are seated in corresponding plain bearings (not shown) provided in the cleaning head interior. In this way the tubular members (and whole upright portion 11 of the vacuum cleaner) may be pivoted fore and aft relative to the cleaning head, thereby permitting reclining of the upright portion and handle for use. A conventional foot operated latching mechanism (not shown) is provided to permit locking of the upright in a vertical orientation unlatching for reclining.

An interior of the engaged tubular members provides a fluid conduit 14 through which air-entrained carpet detritus lifted by the brush may be conveyed (see arrows D inletting through the lower bore and upwards and out of the upper tubular member 32), ultimately to the collection bag in the upright portion.

The lower tubular member 31 has a cylindrical male end region 16. The upper tubular member is formed with a dog-leg bend 40 and has an upper tubular region 41 and a lower end region 15 which has a greater diameter than the end region 16 and which thereby acts as a sleeve in which the end region of lower member sits. This is shown in more detail in FIG. 4.

An outer surface 33 of the end region 16 is formed with a circumferential annular groove 17. The groove is oblong in section, with a length in a tubular axial direction and a width in the radial direction. The end region 15 of the upper tubular member 32 is therefore able to engage with, and overlap, the end region 16 of the lower tubular member. An inner surface of the overlapped upper portion is formed with a circumferential annular groove 19. This groove corresponds in dimensions with the groove 17 in the upper tubular member. The grooves 17 and 19 are aligned with each other so that they face one another and together form a single annular oblong-section circumferential channel between the two end regions 15 and 16.

The overlapped end region 15 is formed with a rectilinear cut-out 21 (see FIG. 3) which provides access to the interior of the channel from outside the connection. A locking member 22 is a flexible band of plastics material 22 which is accommodated in the channel. The locking member may be threaded into the channel via the cut-out 21. The locking member is threaded completely around the circumference of the channel. This locking member is constrained by the upper and lower channel grooves. Together the grooves and locking member block axial movement of the upper tubular member 32 apart from the lower tubular member 31. The band does however permit swivelling rotation of the upper female sleeve 15 about the male end region 16.

The band is rigid enough to be pushed and threaded through the cut-out into the channel, but should have sufficient flexibility to follow the circumference of the channel 20 when in situ in the connection. The band is formed with a release tab 35 which is shown in FIG. 3. This resides outside the channel and may be held by a user to draw the locking member band from the channel to permit detachment of the tubular members from each other. Similarly the tab may be used to push the locking member back into position in the channel when re-attachment is required.

As compared to the device of the prior art EP-A-1647219 the connection of the present invention only requires a single threading step to lock (or a single pull to unlock) two engaged tubular members. As there is only a single locking member (rather than six in the prior art) the detachment process is simpler and more reliable. The unlocking process in particular is much easier with the invention arrangement as a single pull will unlock rather than having to align and remove several rigid segment members as in the prior device. 

1. An upright vacuum cleaner comprising a cleaning head portion supporting an upright portion which includes a collector for vacuumed detritus, the cleaning head portion being provided with wheel means which allow the cleaner to be moved and directed over a floor surface by a user holding a handle provided at an upper region of the upright portion, wherein a lower region of the upright portion is structurally attached to the cleaning head by a tubular conduit in which air-entrained detritus can be conveyed from the cleaning head to the collector, and wherein the tubular conduit is provided with a swivelling connection in which a first tubular member associated with the upright portion engages with a second tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion, so that a male end of one of the tubular members is seated co-axially in a female end of the other, and wherein the tubular members are retained in engagement by an elongate flexible locking member which is accommodated in an annular circumferential channel formed between the seated male and female members, the channel being defined at least in part by raised or depressed constraint features, the arrangement being such that with the locking member in place, swivelling of one member portion with respect to the other is possible but axial disengagement of the male and female portions is prevented by the abutment of one or more constraint features against the locking member, and with the locking member withdrawn from the channel the constraint features are not obstructed so that the male and female portions may be detached from each other by travel apart in the axial direction, thereby to permit detachment of the cleaning head from the upright portion.
 2. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein a brush roller is provided in the cleaning head, which brush has a transverse axis of rotation and is disposed above an elongate transverse sweeping aperture formed in a front underside region of the work head.
 3. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein the annular circumferential channel is oblong in section.
 4. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 3 wherein the annular circumferential channel is oblong in section and the long side of the oblong is parallel to the axial direction, and the width is parallel to the radial direction.
 5. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cross-section of the locking member corresponds to the section of the annular circumferential channel.
 6. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein the elongate locking member is a sliding fit in the annular circumferential channel.
 7. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein an outer wall of the female tubular portion is formed with an aperture (21) communicating with the annular channel through which aperture the locking member may be slideably threaded into the circumferential channel.
 8. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein a tail end of the locking member is provided with a release tab, or graspable feature, which remains outside the annular channel when the locking member is accommodated inside, the tab facilitating manual withdrawal of the locking member for detachment of the members.
 9. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein a constraint feature comprises an annular circumferential lip provided in the male and/or female portion.
 10. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein a constraint feature comprises an annular circumferential depression or trough provided in the male and/or female portion.
 11. An upright vacuum cleaner comprising a cleaning head portion supporting an upright portion which includes a collector for vacuumed detritus, the cleaning head portion being provided with wheel means which allow the cleaner to be moved and directed over a floor surface by a user holding a handle provided at an upper region of the upright portion, wherein a lower region of the upright portion is structurally attached to the cleaning head by a tubular conduit in which air-entrained detritus can be conveyed from the cleaning head to the collector, and wherein the tubular conduit is provided with a swivelling connection in which a first tubular member associated with the upright portion engages with a second tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion, so that a male end of one of the tubular members is seated co-axially in a female end of the other, and wherein the tubular members are retained in engagement by an elongate flexible locking member which is accommodated in an annular circumferential channel formed between the seated male and female members, the channel being defined at least in part by raised or depressed constraint features, the arrangement being such that with the locking member in place, swivelling of one member portion with respect to the other is possible but axial disengagement of the male and female portions is prevented by the abutment of one or more constraint features against the locking member, and with the locking member withdrawn from the channel the constraint features are not obstructed so that the male and female portions may be detached from each other by travel apart in the axial direction, thereby to permit detachment of the cleaning head from the upright portion; and wherein a lower region of the tubular member associated with the cleaning head portion is provided with diametrically opposed transverse cylindrical axles which are seated in bearings provided in the cleaning head portion and which permit the tubular member to pivot fore and aft so that the attached upright portion of the vacuum cleaner may be reclined from a vertical storage orientation to an inclined work orientation.
 12. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein at least one of the cylindrical axles is formed with an axial bore which provides a transverse fluid flow path for detritus-laden air into an interior of the tubular member and then upwards into the upright portion.
 13. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein a brush roller is provided in the cleaning head, which brush has a transverse axis of rotation and is disposed above an elongate transverse sweeping aperture formed in a front underside region of the work head.
 14. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein the annular circumferential channel is oblong in section.
 15. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein the annular circumferential channel is oblong in section and the long side of the oblong is parallel to the axial direction, and the width is parallel to the radial direction.
 16. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein the cross-section of the locking member corresponds to the section of the annular circumferential channel.
 17. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein the elongate locking member is a sliding fit in the annular circumferential channel.
 19. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein an outer wall of the female tubular portion is formed with an aperture communicating with the annular channel through which aperture the locking member may be slideably threaded into the circumferential channel.
 20. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein a tail end of the locking member is provided with a release tab, or graspable feature, which remains outside the annular channel when the locking member is accommodated inside, the tab facilitating manual withdrawal of the locking member for detachment of the members.
 21. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein a constraint feature comprises an annular circumferential lip provided in the male and/or female portion.
 22. An upright cleaner as claimed in claim 11 wherein a constraint feature comprises an annular circumferential depression or trough provided in the male and/or female portion. 